Looking for something fun and informative to do this Friday at 12 noon? Visit the People’s Garden at USDA Headquarters in Washington, DC for our first workshop of Fall 2010 entitled Gleaning Resources: Finding information, materials and helping hands for your garden.

Instructor Katie Rehwaldt, Program Director of America the Beautiful Fund’s Seeds That Grow Hope program and Co-Coordinator of the annual Rooting DC Urban Gardening Forum, is an expert at connecting DC residents with the tools and resources they need to grow their own food. She will be teaching how to save money, find seeds, help improve the environment, and gain valuable knowledge by tapping into the many obvious and not so obvious resources which can be found right near where you live and work. You’ll learn how to think creatively by turning trash into garden treasure, rally an army of volunteers, take advantage of government services, and get the help and advice you need when you need it.

Join us every Friday until the last week in October for workshops that will teach you how to extend your growing season, preserve what you’ve grown and prepare for next season. Register by calling (202) 690-3898. The People’s Garden is located on the corner of Jefferson Drive and 12 Street, SW.

Keep up the good work USDA! We need many more efforts like this across the USA and more focus on local food production. Regardless of what the Secretary has to say, exports are not the answer to the economic problems we farmers face and President Obama needs to understand this. Local food production and direct marketing will turn the rural communities around and make a healthier America.

Katie Rehwaldt is the best! She is very knowledgeable and totally committed to spreading the love of gardening. Working with Nanine Bilski at the America the Beautiful Fund they run a terrifically successful free garden seed program for growing food for the hungry and other worthy causes–always looking for more volunteers. Bob Cashdollar